NEETU SHARMA Vs. DELHI UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a Non-Collegiate student of Laxmi Bai College, Ashok Vihar, Delhi (which has not been impleaded as a respondent), has preferred this petition impugning the action of the respondent University of not allowing the petitioner to appear in the examination for promotion from Second to the Third year, for the reason of the petitioner not meeting the requisite attendance criteria. This Court vide ad-interim order dated 26th April, 2010 directed the respondent University to issue the admit card to the petitioner so as to enable her to appear in the examination. It was however made clear that for the reason of being so allowed to take the exams, no special equities will flow in favour of the petitioner. The counsel for the petitioner informs that pursuant to the said directions the petitioner has appeared only in three out of the six papers in the said exam, in as much as the examination of three papers had already been held prior to the order aforesaid.

(2.) The petitioner has 29% instead of the requisite 66% attendance. The case of the petitioner is that she was participating in a dramatic activity on behalf of the College and owing whereto had to miss her classes. The counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner was throughout assured by her teachers that since she was participating in the activity on behalf of the College, she need not to worry about attendance and would be given the requisite attendance. The counsel for the petitioner contends that the said averment in the petition has not been controverted by the University. Though the counsel for the respondent University contends that the aforesaid averment in the petition has been controverted in the counter affidavit but in any case the averment was directed against the College and whom the petitioner has chosen not to implead as a party. The attendance is marked by the respective Colleges and only on the basis of the attendance record forwarded by the Colleges to the University, the University issues the admit card for the examination. The grievance if any of the petitioner of the attendance being not marked is with respect to the College which has not been sued.

(3.) I have enquired from the counsel for the petitioner whether the petitioner was the only student from the College participating in the drama aforesaid and if there were other participants also, whether they have also been denied the attendance. The counsel for the petitioner states that there were seven or eight students who were participating in the said drama and all of whom have not faced any problem of attendance and it is only the petitioner who has not been marked as present while her colleagues in the said dramatic activity were given the requisite attendance. The same would again be a grievance against the College which has not been sued.